Safety Fines for Hebco Products

Friday, August 10, 2012 @ 05:08 PM gHale

Hebco Products Inc. in Bucyrus, OH, is facing $95,700 in fines for 14 safety violations, including two repeat violations for failing to guard machines to prevent amputation injuries as well as document and use machine-specific procedures to prevent the unexpected start up of equipment, said officials at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

“Employers such as Hebco that are cited for repeat violations demonstrate a lack of commitment to worker safety and health,” said Kimberly Nelson, OSHA’s area director in Toledo. “Employers are responsible for establishing a safe environment for their workers and knowing the hazards that exist in their workplaces.”

OSHA initiated an inspection under the agency’s Site-Specific Targeting Program, which targets industries with the highest rates of workplace injuries and illnesses. Companies end up randomly selected for inspection from a primary list of 3,700 manufacturing, nonmanufacturing, and nursing and personal care facilities.

A repeat violation exists when an employer previously faced the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. The company faced similar violations in 2007.

Additionally, the company faces multiple violations involving confined spaces, including failing to inform workers of hazards by posting danger signs in permit-required spaces, implement measures necessary to prevent unauthorized entry, document completion of entry permits, and provide training for the safe performance of duties in permit-required confined spaces. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.